News
Local

Church welcomes refugees

Standing outside their church in Kingston on Tuesday, which is sponsoring a family of refugees from Eritrea, are, from left, Gail Power, Heidi De Jonge, Greta Boven, Fred Boven and Ryan Power. (Michael Lea/The Whig-Standard)

Some time in the next few weeks, Kingston will be getting about 125 new foster parents.

The entire congregation of the Westside Fellowship Christian Reformed Church will be taking a family of refugees from Eritrea under its wing and helping them adjust to their new life in Canada.

The family -- a father, mother and child -- are currently in a refugee camp in the Sudan, but it is hoped they will be able to come to Canada in a couple of weeks.

The effort is the work of the Friends of Refugees committee at the church, which, in turn, is working with World Renew.

Gail and Ryan Power, two of the members of the committee, explained the family is coming to Kingston under the government's Blended Visa Office Referral. Under its Resettlement Assistance Program, administered through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the federal government provides assistance for resettled refugees and works with a sponsoring group to ease the transition to their new home.

It is a faster approval process than when a church or other organization seeks to sponsor an individual or family by themselves, Ryan Power said. The government chooses the refugees, arranges for their travel visas and flights, and then turns them over to the sponsoring group.

The family coming consists of a father, 41, his wife, 39, and their son, who is almost two.

"We have to be responsible for those folks for 12 months," Power continued. "Then they're on their own. They'll start their own lives and move on."

Power said the financial assistance works out to the church providing about 60% of the money needed while the government pays the remaining 40%.

So far, the church congregation has raised almost $6,000 towards a goal of about $18,000 that will go towards setting up the family in Kingston.

"That gets the first and last month's rent done, that gets the food in the fridge, some furnishing, some clothing," Power said.

Pastor Heidi De Jonge, who has been at the Woodbine Road church for the past three years, said the congregation has been "very passionate" about bringing the family to Kingston.

"People are really excited."

Things started slowly, but that passion was contagious, she said, and all of the members of the church wanted the effort to succeed.

"This is what being part of a church is all about, doing this kind of thing," De Jonge said.

This is the first time the 35-year-old church has carried out such a mission, she said.

Fred Boven, on the committee with his wife, Greta, said he received a call last week that the family has been approved to come to Canada and their visas were being processed.

They still don't know exactly when the family will be arriving.

"We think it's going to be within the next couple of weeks."

In the meantime, they have found the family an apartment.

Once they arrive, they will need help getting social insurance cards, health cards and all of the mundane day-to-day necessities. They may need help learning English, and the father, who is a truck driver, will likely need help getting a driver's licence so he can eventually find work.

"The first 30 days is going to be really intense. Everything is new," De Jonge said.

"We are not sure what they are familiar with," Boven added. "If they are not familiar with anything other than living in a hut somewhere, then there is going to be a huge culture shock. So every day we are going to have to be there. The whole congregation is going to be part of this. And we hope it is the beginning of something larger."

De Jonge echoed his thoughts, saying she hopes this first effort will be the start of a trend.

"We can't do everything, but we can help one family, and then another family."

The family is Christian, but she isn't sure if they will be attending her church.

"We are going to love them no matter what," she said.

To better their knowledge about the homeland of their new family, the congregation has been learning about Eritrea and the challenges the population faces.

"Sometimes you see that stuff in the paper and you just look over it, but now we are getting a real (feel) for what they came from," Gail Power said.

"We don't know specifics, but the more I am reading about Eritrea, the more appalling it is," De Jonge said.

To help raise the needed funds, the church has already held a movie night and is planning a golf tournament at The Landings on Sept. 5. There will be a garage sale at the church on Sept. 12, and they are signing up teams and individuals for the Ride For Refuge on Oct. 3, a bike ride and walk out of Woodbine Park.